Pipe hanger and seal assembly



y 1954 H. ALLEN PIPE HANGER AND SEAL ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled March 30, 1950 HERBERT ALLEN INVENTOR.

July 6, 1954 H. ALLEN PIPE HANGER AND SEAL ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Original Filed March 30, 1950 HERBERT ALLEN INVENTOR.

Patented July 6, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE PIPE HANGER AND SEALASSEMBLY Herbert Allen, Houston, Tex., assignor to Cameron Iron Works,Inc., Houston, Iex., a corporation of Texas 4 Claims.

This invention relates in general to pipe hanging and sealing apparatusand, has for its general object the provision of such an apparatus whichwill become fully and automatically effective upon being lowered intoposition about a pipe and the weight of the pipe released thereon.

This application is a continuation of my prior application Serial Number152,912, now abandoned, filed in the United States Patent Ofiice onMarch 30th, 1950.

It is often desirable in completing a well to hang and provide a sealabout the outside of an inner string of pipe prior to the removal of thecontrol equipment, suchas blowout preventers and the like, which arecustomarily employed on a well above the casing or tubing head. Variousmeans have in the past been proposed for performing this function, butsuch means have either required special types of casing or tubing heads,which, unless the operator had foreseen the necessity for the particulartypes of hanging and sealing device employed, would probably not be inplace on the well, or have required that the pipe be hung at a collar orspecial section of pipe which would provide a downwardly facing shoulderon the exterior of the pipe. In still other instances, suggestions haveinvolved the provision of a tapered bowl forming part of the mechanismseparate from the casing ortubing head, and such a bowl, as will beappreciated, 9

isan expensive item to'manufacture.

' In those previous devices which have purported to providesealsautomatically upon hang ing of the pipe, some have provided for theentire weight of the pipe to rest on the seals to expand the same, asituation which in some cases may result in damage to the pipe beinghung, and in other cases such devices have relied upon what iscustomarily known as a lip type seal, which is effective againstpressure in but one direction. 7

It is an object of this invention to provide a device of the typereferred to which will not require any special well head equipment otherthan the hanging and sealing device itself, and will not require anyspecial element to be incorporatedin the pipe nor require the pipe to behung at any specified point.

Another object of this. invention is to provide a pipe hanger and sealassembly which will. be simple to manufacture and; yet efiicient anddependable in operation.

Another object is to provide a pipe hanger and seal assembly which willrequire no special machine operations in its manufacture except simple 2operations which may be performed on a drill press, lathe, and saw.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein is set forth by way of illustration and. example oneembodiment of the invention. 1

In the drawings:'

Fig. 1 is a view illustrating in longitudinal cross-section a pipe beinghung and a tapered bowl type casing head of ordinary construction inwhich it is being hung, the pipe hanger and seal assembly beingillustrated in longitudinal cross-section, and the parts occupying theposition which they would assume shortly after the pipe hanger and sealassembly had reached its position in the casing head and during theactual hanging of the casing and the formation of the lindrical zone 3on its interior above the tapered zone 2.

This casing head is provided with a flanged extending outwardly from itsupper end- 7 for the purpose of securing it to a suitable fitting to beconnected thereto, the lower portion of such fitting being indicated bythe numeral 5 in Fig. I.

provided with a flange 6 matching the flange A on a casing head. Betweenthese twofittings, the casing head I-, and the fitting 5, there isinterposed a customary type seal ring I so that when the flanges 4 and(i are drawn together by bolts 8, the two fittings will be completelysealed to each other.

Located within the casing head I and to be.

hung in such head and. sealed thereto is a pipe 9 which may be an innerstring of well casing and which may extend upwardly from the casing headthrough suitable control equipment such as blowout preventers, valves,and the like.

The hanging and sealing assembly to which this invention relates is madeup of a packing holding ring' l0, and annular distortable packing l I, apacking compressing ring l2, and a ring of slip segments l3.

The fitting 5 may be a blowout preventer valve, or other suitablefitting, and is The packing holding ring I is illustrated as beinglocated above the ring of slip segments l3 and, in the manner which willpresently be explained, is supported against movement with the slipsegments when the slip segments move downwardly in the bowl into afirmer seating engagement with the tapered zone 2. The slip segments l3are provided with tapered outer surfaces to fit in the tapered zone 2 ofthe casing head, and on their inner surfaces are provided with upwardlydirected gripping teeth l4 adapted to engage and grip the pipe s.

Each of the segments I3 is tapped in its upper surface at l5 to receivea cap screw IE or the like, which passes through the holding ring In andthe distortable packing II, as well as the packing compressing ring 12,so as to secure all these parts together in a unitary assembly. Thepacking holding ring [0 and compressing ring l2 provide a packingconfining means by which the packing l I is confined.

Each of the segments I3 is also provided on its outer surface with oneor more recesses [1 adapted to receive plungers or pistons H which haveparts projecting outwardly from the outer surfaces of the segments andwhich parts provide yieldable parts adapted to yield under pressuretoward the regular outer contour of the segments.

Behind each of the plungers 18 within the recesses I! there is disposeda block 19 .of resilient material such as rubber which is yieldable andflowable but preferably substantially incompressible. Connecting withthat portion of the recess I! in which the rubber block l9 or the likeis disposed, is an upwardly extending bore 20 in which is disposed aplunger 2 l. The bore 26 provides a relief passage for the fiow ofmaterial of the resilient block l9 when the plunger I8 is forcedinwardly, and the plunger 2| serves to transmit this relief movement ofthe material of the block l9 into a force exerted against the packingholding ring or gland ring [0 so that as the slip segments I3 movedownwardly and the plungers [8 are moved inwardly, the packing holdingring will be forced away from the slip segments and prevented frommoving with them, while the packing compressing ring or gland !2, beingtied'to the slip segments by means of the cap screws Hi, will be forcedto move downwardly with the slip segments, thereby moving the two glandrings toward each other and causing compression longitudinally of thepacking ring H, with its consequent lateral expansion into sealingengagement with the interior of the casing head I and the exterior ofthe pipe 9.

It will be noted that each of the plungers it has a guiding stem 22thereon which is mounted to reciprocate within the small bore 23 at theinner extremity of the recess IT. This stem 22 not only serves to guidethe plunger [8 and keep it properly disposed with respect to the slipsegment at all times, but serves the further function of beingfrictionally engaged within an opening in the resilient block 19, whichblock in turn is resiliently andfrictionally engaged within the recess17, so that the plungers l8 will be retained in position prior to thesetting of the assembly.

It will be appreciated that the packing holding ring I Hi, and thepacking compressing ring l2 may both be made in two parts, whichcomplement each other to form these respective annular rings. Theseparts are split from each other in a longi tudinal direction so thateach makes up substantially one-half of an annular member. Thedistortable packing II is likewise split but only at one point, so thatit consists of one integral flexible or distortable packing member. Whenthe parts are assembled, one-half of the segments I3 may be assembledwith respect to one of the halves of the packing compressing ring andone of the halves of the packing holding ring, and the other half of thesegments are assembled with respect to the other half of the packingcompressing ring and the other half of the packing holding ring. Theannular distortable packing is so arranged that its one split portionregisters with one of the divisions between the packing compressing ringparts and the packing holding ring parts, whereas this annulardistortable packing bridges the other split or division between thepacking compressing ring parts and the packing holding ring parts.

It will be seen that when all the parts are secured together as by thecap screws l (i, the two segmental halves of the assembly will be joinedtogether only at one side and only by the distortable packing whichbridges the split between them. This distortable packing, beingrelatively easy to flex as compared with other parts of the assembly,may be made to serve as a hinge so that the two parts of the assemblymay be moved away from each other and placed around a pipe asillustrated in Fig. 2.

It will be appreciated that the cap screws 16 are not tightenedsufiiciently to expand the distortable packing H but are merely for thepurpose of holding the parts in assembled relation while they are beingput in position in the well, and of tying the packing compressing glandring l2 to the segments l3 to cause it to move with said segments.

It will now be assumed that the pipe 9 is an inner casing which has beenrun into a well through blowout preventers and other control equipment,and has reached the position where it is desired that it be hung andsealed. It will further be assumed that the well is in such conditionthat it is not desired that the space between the casing and casing headbe left open for any substantial length of time because of the danger ofa blowout. While the pipe 9 is being held in suspension by the hoistingapparatus employed in running the pipe, the assembly construction inaccordance with this invention as above described will be placed aboutan intermeiate portion of the pipe above the blowout preventers in themanner illustrated in Fig. 2. The blowout preventers will then be openedso as to permit this assembly to pass down along the pipe and land inthe casing head as illustrated in Fig. 1. It will be seen that when theparts are in the position illustrated in Fig. l, the packing holdingring or gland is will be supported upon the upper ends of the plungers2|. As these plungers will be moved out of the upper ends of the slipsegments is upon downward movement of the slip segments, the packingholding ring or gland will be moved by these plungers away from the slipsegments and prevented from downward movement with the slip segments.Also, it will be appreciated that the plungers 58 which provideyieldable parts on the outer surfaces of the slip segments, will havecome in contact with the tapered portion of the casing head and willhave forced the teeth M of the slip segments into contact with the pipe9.

The weight of the pipe will then be eased off from the hoistingequipment and as this weight is taken off on the slip segments l3, thesesegments will begin to move downwardly, first biting into the pipe withthe teeth I l, and then forcing the yieldable plungers it to moveinwardly toward the regular outer contour of the segments- Theseplungers in such movement compress; and distort the resilientblocks. I9: and; the distortion of the resilientblocks I9. causes the. upwardmovement of the plungers 2'! to' prevent the packing holding ring infrom moving with the slip segments. Al-tzt-he same time, the downwardmovement of the segments 1.3 will be. transmitted by the cap screws. L6to the packing compressing ring 12 so-thatsuch packing compressing ringwill be caused to; move downwardly with the slip. segments andcompressthepacking H in a longitudinal direction This compression of thepacking a longitudinal direction force the expansion of the, packinglaterally into: sealing; engage,- ment with both thecasing head I andthe pipe. 9.

It will be seen that the amount of compression of the packing will belimited by the fact that as soon as the yieldable projections providedby the plungers it have been moved inwardly to the regular contour ofthe segments I3, the downward movement of the segments will be haltedand that any additional weight of pipe which is brought to rest on thesegments will be trans mitted directly by the segments to the casinghead i and will not be imposed upon the packing I l. Thus, the amount ofdownward movement of the segments permitted by the yielding of theplungers l8 determines the degree to which the packing I i will becompressed and the amount of weight to be placed on this packing.

After the device has been set in the manner just described, it will beappreciated that not only is the pipe hung, but that the space betweenthe pipe and the casing head will be completely sealed off. Thereupon,the control equipment may be removed from the well without danger ofblowout through the annular space and the well may then be completed inthe usual manner.

If after removal of the control equipment it be found that thedistortable packing has not been sufficiently compressed, or that it isfelt that in the interest of safety additional compression of thepacking is desirable, this may be accomplished merely by tightening upon the cap screws Hi.

It will be appreciated that the device just described is so extremelysimple that it may be made with only the simplest of machine operations.Thus, the slip segments l3 differ from ordinary slip segments only inthe provision of the recess ii, the bore 23, and the passageway 26, allof which may be formed with drill press operations, and in the provisionof the tapped openings for receiving the cap screws l6, which likewiseare formed by simple drilling and tapping operation. The gland rings itand i2 are plain annuiar rings having holesdrilled therethrough for thepassage of the capscrews [6, the

ring lz'being counterbored from its upper surface to receive the headsof the cap screws It so that they might lie iiush with the upper surfaceof the ring :2. The rings it and I2 may be split in the mannerhereinbefore described by the simple process of sawing them in two.

Thus, itwill be seen that a means has been provided for carrying out andaccomplishing the objects of this invention with a simple assembly whichmay be manufactured with a minimum of machine operations.

It is apparent that various modifications may be made in the device asdescribed without departing from the spirit or scope of this inventionas defined in the appended claims.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

tiLon toward. said packing, to compress the latter with movement of saidsegments, yieldable means carried. by said: slip segments and. havingparts initially projecting from the outer surfaces of segments and: thenmovable under pressurev toward conformity with the regular outer contourof said. segments, a force transmitting connection between saidyieldable means and said? holding ring urging the latter in a directiontoward the packing upon movement of said yieldable means towardconformity with said contour of said segments, said yieldable meanscomprising plungers mounted in recesses in said se ments and extendingto provide said initially pro jecting parts and resilient means in saidrecesses behind said plungers urging said plungers toward theirinitially projecting position.

2. A pipe hanger and seal assembly comprising a packing holding ring, anannular distortable packing thereon, a packing compressing ring engagingthe opposite side of said packing from said holding ring, a ring of slipsegments having parts in engagement with said compressing ring to movesaid compressing ring axially in a direction toward said packing tocompress the latter with movement of said segments, and yieldable meansincluding plungers carried by said slip segments, said plungersinitially projecting from the outer surfaces of the segments and movableunder pressure toward conformity with the regular outer contours of saidsegments, said plungers being biased toward their initially projectingposition and slidably mounted in recesses in said segments, and a forcetransmitting connection between the yieldable means and said holdingring causing relative movement between the holding ring and segmentsupon movement of the plungers toward conformity with said contour ofsaid segments.

3. A pipe hanger and seal assembly comprising a packing holding ring, anannular distortable packing thereon, a packing compressing ringconfining the opposite side of said packing from said holding ring, aring of slip segments having parts in engagement with saidcompressing'ring to move said compressing ring axially in a directiontoward said packing with movement of said segments, yieldable partscarried by said slip segments and. initially projecting from the outersurfaces thereof and movable under pressure toward conformity with theregular outer contours of said segments, said yieldable parts comprisingplungers mounted in recesses in said segments and solid resilient blocksfilling the recesses in said segments behind said plungers, saidsegments having relief passages communicating with the portions of saidrecesses which are filled by said blocks, and movable parts connected tothe holding ring and extending into said passages to be moved byexpansion of the blocks into the passages thereby causing relativemovement between the holding ring and the segments.

4. A pipe hanger and seal assembly comprising a packing holding ring, anannular distortable packing thereon, a packing compressing ringconfining the opposite side of said packing from said holding ring, aring of slip segments having parts in engagement with said compressingring to move said compressing ring axially with said segments, andyieldable parts carried by said slip segments and initially projectingfrom the outer surfaces thereof and movable under pressure inwardlytoward conformity with the regular outer contours of said segments, saidyieldable parts comprising plungers mounted in recesses in said segmentsand solid resilient blocks filling the recesses in said segments behindsaid plungers, said segments having upwardly directed relief passagescommunicating with the portions of said recesses which are filled bysaid blocks, and plungers in said passages movable under pressure fromsaid blocks to engage said holding ring and prevent it from moving withsaid segments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,650,074 Kammerdiner Nov. 22, 1927 1,923,283 Stokes Aug. 22,1933 2,073,890 Tschappat Mar 16, 1937 2,118,094 McDonough et a1. May 24,1938 2,312,487 Roach et a1. Mar. 2, 1943 2,493,556 Stone Jan, 3, 19502,553,838 Allen et a1. May 22, 1951 2,600,257 Neilon June 10, 19522,610,689 Eckel Sept. 16, 1952 2,620,880 Mueller et a1. Dec. 1952

